It is known in the art to equip a motor vehicle with one or more sun visors that may be deployed to shield the eyes of the driver and front seat passenger from direct or glaring light. More particularly, direct sunlight can be particularly annoying when the sun is lower in the sky, such as in the morning when the sun is rising, in the evening when the sun is setting or during winter months when the sun stays closer to the horizon.
Package considerations limit the range of motion and surface area of a sun visor. In order to provide enhanced shielding, current sun visor designs are able to provide additional side coverage to the driver and passenger through several means: slide on rod visors that move all the components through each of the required zones, dual blade designs that add weight and cost, big sun visor blades that increase coverage or blade inserts that take extra volume inside the component and decrease the craftsmanship of the part.
This document relates to a new and improved sun visor assembly incorporating a slide panel that may be deployed to provide extra surface area outboard of the main visor body for shielding the eyes of a driver or passenger of the motor vehicle. Advantageously, the new and improved sun visor assembly is characterized by a minimal visor body volume, avoiding the typical chunky look of a visor assembly incorporating an extension blade or slide panel. Thus the sun visor assembly provides a sleek, trim look while still incorporating a slide panel that may be deployed for extra surface to shield the sun from the eyes of a motor vehicle operator or front seat passenger.